The Norwegian Academy of Music (NMH) is Norway's largest and most important music education institution. NMH desired a rebrand in order to reintroduce new energy and modernize their visual presence. Since the logo was well established, it was kept as is.

The objective was to create a renewed identity which strengthens NMH as a cultural and artistic institution with a focus on the musical, exploratory and experimental aspect. The new identity needed to reflect and represent both the playful and the sober side of the institution.

Budget for the rebrand: Appr NOK 470 000,-.

Budget for a new website incl design: Appr NOK 1,7 mill

Project scale/volume: 1 year with a team of 8 persons from the agency.

NMH is all about the study of music, stretching from the classical to the present, exploring old and new ways of interpreting music and all aspects of it. The rebrand of the identity needed to accommodate this span, giving a visual voice for all kind of musical expressions. From free and artistic to confined and strict, from classic to abstract/modern, from practical to theory.

The new identity strengthens NMH as a cultural and artistic institution with a focus on the musical, exploratory and experimental aspect. The different identity elements and the layout system conveys this focus, giving NMH a playful og expressive identity to communicate through.

NMH’s target audience are students from Norway and abroad, professionals for teaching & research and their employees. NMH has a broad international cooperation program with a high professional standard, which also needs to be reflected in the execution of the identity.

The identity is built around the pillars for NMH; students and music.

One of the strongest proofs of this, is the illustration style that was developed for strengthening the narrative of NMH's position/role in society. Through a live digital performance, artist/illustrator Tobias Gutmann met 5 students from NMH. In these meetings between musicians and artist, unique illustrations were created, telling the story of NMH and its daily operation.

The typography has been given an important role. The combination of Reckless and Monument reflects the creative/artistic and the scientific/classical aspects of NMH. Together the typefaces gives an expressive visuality reflecting the nature of the music.

The layout system is giving life to the content through displacements - reflecting the rhythm of music and musical interpretation. It puts music and it’s nature in the main role. The system gives a wide range of possibilities, giving strong recognizability and distinctiveness.

NMH wants to attract the best applicants, employees and academic collaborations and need to stand out, professionally and visually.

The new identity revives the visual expression and personality and presents NMH as a confident, modern and playful institution. Being confident in who you are as a brand also contributes to raising pride amongst the employees, NMH’s best ambassadors.

NMH has also had a sensational progress on the QS Ranking in Performing Arts. For the past three years, the school has been in 35th, 33rd and 29th place, respectively - before they in 2021 jumped 21 places and captured an 8th place. For the very first time, NMH is at the top of the Nordic art educations.